The Tartan

The Tartan

MCC club shows its pride

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Every Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m., a group of students get together in Student Life, room A252, with one thing in common; all of these individuals seek a supportive atmosphere where they can discuss the challenges that they face on a daily basis. Unlike most students however, their challenges are harder to overcome than the occasional tough math problem.

MCC’s Pride Club helps students cope with the struggles of being a member of the LGBTQ+ community. They strive to create a comfortable and energetic safe space where students can feel proud and secure in their identities. Pride club is an all-inclusive club and welcomes students from all walks of life, from straight allies to fully transitioned students.

The club has been around for about nine years, and regularly runs workshops for its members ranging in topic from LGBTQ+ history to coming out. These kinds of workshops are essential to the preservation of the LGBTQ+ community. So many of our history classes have been washed of the LGBTQ+ perspective. For example, did you know that Eleanor Roosevelt had a longtime romantic relationship with a lesbian, writing many love letters to the woman after her husband died? These workshops are also essential in terms of safety. Our country may recognize same-sex marriage, but same-sex intercourse is still so heavily controversial that there is often little to no same-sex content in our sexual education, even in wake of one of the worst epidemics – the AIDS virus — in living memory.

The Pride Club also runs some of MCC’s most successful events like the annual drag show every Spring. They even reached out to the younger groups from the high schools and threw them a pride prom when some high schools weren’t supportive of same-sex couples going to prom. Pride Club usually has about seven regular members, but regular attendance isn’t mandatory. They provide a supportive space for constructive rhetoric about LGBTQ+ issues and most importantly a safe place for everyone to relax, have fun, and meet others in the community.